Chicago— Studies continue to show benefits of bariatric surgery in helping obese patients lose weight, but whether the procedure can actually “control or cure” those who have gone on to have diabetes remains to be seen.

Researchers from the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston presented the newest findings on the procedure in March at the scientific session of the American College of Cardiology. The team found that in obese patients with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes, those undergoing bariatric surgery and optimal medical therapy were more likely to have achieved glycemic control at 1 year than those receiving optimal medical therapy only (Schauer PR et al. N Eng J Med. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1200225 [published online March 26, 2012]). The bariatric surgeries were so successful that many who underwent the procedure were able to reduce or eliminate the medicines they were taking to control their diabetes.